


Connected Hearts

by KT_Variant



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types, Rockman.EXE | Mega Man Battle Network
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Two timelines
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:53:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26081491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KT_Variant/pseuds/KT_Variant
Summary: Two worlds, Three hearts, One link. Three special children were born, the first one is destined to die and to be reborn again in its home world, while the other is also destined to die but is reborn in another world. The third one remains well and to grow, the one who will either connect or separate the two worlds and the two special people. So when someone wants to conquer both worlds, only the these three children can stop that lunatic from doing it…Cross-post from FF.net
Relationships: Axl (Rockman) & Rockman.EXE, OC & Axl (Rockman), OC & Rockman.EXE, OC/Ijuuin Enzan
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. Goodbye and Hello

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman Battle Network and Megaman X, both series belong to Capcom. I only own my OCs in this story.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What ends, new beginnings starts...

_Tut…_

_Tut…_

_Tut…_

In a dark facility, machines hum in function, tables are littered with parts and blueprints, colorful lights shine like the sparkling stars in the dark...

And then, a small figure moved but stops due to...

Pain.

It lances through him, burning in every part of his body, but he opens his eyes and saw that he is lying in some kind of strange capsule. His body also felt strange, he cannot move his legs or his left arm... only to find out to his horror...

That they are not there.

Turning his head, he saw an old man that seems to be a bit faded like a ghost. 'He kinda look creepy.' he mentally noted. He did not know what is going on, and then a stronger pain surrounds his body. He screams as he felt like he is on fire and is being torn away from his body…

Before he loses consciousness...

"I'm sorry... only way..."

And then he sinks in the darkness

**:::^*^:::**

Meanwhile in Den Tech city...

Slowly, three men lifted the coffin and carefully place it in the hole they dug before. The Hikari family and their friends are there, silently mourning, weeping… and to say their final farewells to a boy named Hikari Alex Netto.

Rockman EXE, or Saito, still remembers what happen to his younger brother. He and Netto are in their Cross Fusion form, battling against Dark Blues when it uses a new and unknown attack on them. That caused Netto to defuse, then the demented Darkloid tortured his brother by slicing his limbs and then… he uses the attack again on him, Rockman heard his brother scream in pain but he can do nothing for he couldn't enter the human world.

" _Netto!" Rockman screamed, as his brother vanish in a stream of light and Dark Blues disappeared without a trace._

After that, no one could find the boy's body as if the attack have completely disintegrated him into nothing. Only the legs and the left arm were found, as they are near the blue navi's PET when his father found him. And those are the only parts that are in the coffin. As much as they wanted to find the rest of the boy, they have to accept the harsh truth...

The first Net Saviour, the hero of the Cyberworld and Rockman's operator and brother is dead.

And Rockman will not forgive Dark Blues or Nebula, he never will.

Now the government needs to recruit a new Net Saviour with Netto's skills on netbattling and have the potential in Cross Fusion, and the only person who can match that is... Rockman's and Netto's only sister, Hikari Miriku Sora.

Truth is, Hikari Haruka gave birth to triplets, two boys and one girl. Unfortunately, the two of the babies have gotten sick after their birth and Saito died to a new disease called HBD. Sora, on the other hand, had a weak immune system and they were afraid that she too would have HBD like her older brother. They sent her to the States where it have the best medical facilities at that time and Haruka's sister became the child's guardian as she lives in Kansas. Somehow, the young girl managed to live thru the ordeal and is quite active like her younger brother. Her improvement baffled the medical experts as they have no idea how her health improved, as her aunt considers it as a miracle.

But now... it is time for her to go home.

**:::^*^:::**

In Kansas, at the Crouse farm…

At the barn, a girl in her preteens is fixing a device that suppose to be a part of a robot, which is going to compete in the next tourney. She have brown eyes, a long brown hair tied in a tight tie, making it look like a tail and short layers to frame her head as if she have a short hair. She rechecks the device, seeing if it could work... when she spots the black car just stopping near her house.

'The government?' She thought. She recognizes the car since she was young, when her grandmother was alive. They used to asked her for any projects that her husband, and the brunette's grandfather, left behind to help make the network better for the world. The last time she saw them is when they are paying respect on her funeral, and the ownership of the projects were inherited to her. The brunette never touched any of the said projects, out of respect and love of her grandfather, and left it as it is.

Her aunt came out of the house to greet the men in blacks, asking why they're here. The girl cannot hear what the people are saying, but she can tell that her aunt does not agree with their conversation by her expression on her face. Before her aunt could grab the broom to drive them off the farm, the girl quickly dropped what she's doing and dashes towards her aunt to calm her down.

"Auntie!" the girl calls out, as she runs to the woman with a short black hair and dark brown eyes.

"Sora!" the woman said, startled to see her out but she immediately grabs her niece and pushes her into the house. "Get inside and don't go out till I tell you so." The woman said sternly, with a bit of panic in her voice.

"Wait! What's going on?" Sora asked, trying to get free from her aunt's grip. Unfortunately, her aunt is a little stronger than she is, so she has no success on getting free until one of the men helps her.

"Mrs. Crouse, I understand that you care for your niece, but we need her help on this battle." the man said, as he readjust his glasses, then the brunette twist her body and successfully got out of his grip.

"Battle? What battle?" She asked, looking at the man as if he grown two heads.

"A Netbattle, only it's different." The other man said as the girl looks at him. "So see your father discovered that the viruses from the net are crossing to our world. Moreover, in order to keep the peace, the government put up an organization called Net Saviour. Your brother, Netto Hikari, is one of the best in the organization."

"... I think I got it, but what does that to do with me?" She asked, she have a feeling that she's not going to like this.

"Sora, your brother died in one of the battles against the Darkloid, and we need you to replace him." He said.

"My brother... Netto... Is dead? And you want me to replace him?!" the brunette shouts out of shock and disbelief that they want her to take her brother's place, but the man ignored her outburst.

"You can't make her fight, she's just a child! A girl, even!" Mrs. Crouse shrieks, who finally got the broom and immediately stands in front of her niece. But that action did not faze them and adjusted their glasses and ear pieces, as they receive a call from their boss.

"We'll wait for your answer within 24 hours..." The man said and then they re-enter the car and drives away, leaving Sora's aunt to wave her broom at them violently... But for the brunette girl, she stands in shock of the news and unknowingly leaking tears for a family she lost.

**:::^*^:::**

She and her aunt have a talk about her decision on taking her brother's place as a Net Saviour. As much as the elder woman wishes her to deny the invitation, inside she knows that this could be a chance for the girl to be with her parents. It will hurt to let her niece go into battlefield at such a young age, but she will at least make her sister, Haruka, happy. She also knows her niece is mourning for the loss of her brother. Even if they just met in rare occasions, they are still her family...

Which is why she let her niece think of her decision tonight...

After a uneventful dinner, Sora silently makes a beeline for her room as her aunt takes on breaking the news to the rest of the family.

"Hello Sora, did you managed to fix that glitch on that part?" A net navi greeted, her partner, thru the screen of the navy blue PET which is set on the study table. The navi is a girl, purple eyes and black digital low ponytail. She wore a black jumpsuit and navy blue armor with gold trimmings on the edge. She also wore a short, navy blue with gold trimming half-skirt, that is attach on her white belt. On her chest is the symbol of the Hikari Family crest, there are also a pair of it on her helmet. Her helmet has a pair of white wings on the side, and is attached to the symbols. In addition, there is a crystal, clear gem resting in the middle of the helmet.

"No, some government wants me to join a special force of sorts." She replied sourly, as she hit her face on the bed. The female navi looks at her partner with a brow raised and is about to ask if that was a joke, when she notices the brunette's shoulder is shaking.

"Sora, are you crying?" The navi asked with concern.

"No, Rouge, I'm not." She states sternly, as she rubs the the tears on her pillow and looks at her partner.

"Sora..." Rouge said in worry.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. I'm your partner, Sora. Please..."

"Alright..." Rubbing her eyes and sniffling a bit, the brunette explains what happened that afternoon. "The government wants me to go to Japan to take my brother's place as a Net Saviour. Netto... my brother... is dead and they need someone with the same netbattling skills as him."

The navi is silent, but she sports an incredulous look on hearing the news on the death of her partner's brother. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't pry..." she apologizes as she looks down.

The brunette sighs, she gets up her bed and pick up her PET. "It's not your fault, Rouge..."

Then silence reigns for a while, which made the situation a bit awkward that the female navi decides to break it."So... are you going to take your brother's place in Japan?" Rouge asked, tilting her head on the side.

"I...I don't know! I mean, I can't believe that they just decided to recruit me! And what happen to my brother? Did they find his body? Did they given him a proper send off? I-I-I lived most of my life right here in America. But my family are there, I want to meet them. I want to protect them." Sora stutters a bit as she looks away. "But I can't just leave..." she added, remembering the life she made.

"I see. Take your time, Sora. Whatever your decision is, I'll respect it." Rouge said with gentleness in her voice. Sora thanked her navi, placing her PET on the charger, change into her sleeping wear and went to bed. But she could not shut her eyes on the news on her brother... another tear leaks out as she turns to her side and shuts her eyes, forcing herself to sleep.

:::^ _Dream_ ^:::

Opening her eyes, she found herself floating in a white abyss and sees two Earths just above her. The first one is her home, she guessed, and the other is somewhat in a middle of a world war 3. Then beside her are two lights, inside it are human figures. Taking a good look, she sees a net navi, her older brother in the first one and in the other is a boy in a strange armor that could almost pass as a navi.

Then there's a flash and turns to see a strange but beautiful woman dressed in all white, she is smiling and somewhat giving off a motherly vibe. She went close, although the brunette tries to move, the lady's hand gently caress her face.

" _One becomes two…"_

" _For two to become one…"_

" _Three must be in harmony…"_

The woman smiles brightly as she drops her hand on her side.

She didn't understand what the woman said, she tries to talk to her when everything turns white.

:::^ _End of Dream_ ^:::

The next day...

Sora made her decision.

She'll go to Japan and join the Net Saviour.

Of course, her aunt tries to change her mind, but Sora told her that she will be okay and promise to take care of herself. The elder woman sighs and respected her niece's choice, as the girl makes her way to her room to pack up. As she packs up her clothes and other stuffs in the suitcase, she caught a glimpse of a pair of pictures on her bedroom wall. Stopping for a bit, she place down her shirts on the bed and walks towards the said pictures. She takes them off the wall and stares at it...

First is a picture of her, her brother and her grandmother... they were three at that time and their grandmother was still fit to play with them. Two years after this picture was taken, she passed away.

The other picture is her grandfather... he died before they were born. But both she and Netto loved him despite he's no longer alive.

A sad smile forms. "I'm going... I'm going back to our family, Netto." she whispers, as she moves to her bed and picks a shirt. She wraps it around the pictures and places it in the suitcase, then resumes packing.

Once she is done, she slings her backpack on and takes one last look on her room before she rolls out her suitcase. The agents arrived and helps her putting the bags at the back of their car, as she receive her plane ticket from one of the agents. Her aunt, her uncle and her cousins gives her a hug, helpers in the farm gave her souvenirs to remember them by and the robots she repaired to help in the farm also bids her farewell. But before she goes, she gives the device she was working on to her elder cousin, requesting that he delivers it to her friends and teammates. She then gets in the car and takes a good look at the farm, she waves them goodbye as the car drives off. She feels guilty since she did not call and talk her friends about her departure, but she is a little sure that they will accept her decision once she calls them when she arrives in Japan.

'Bye America…' Sora thought, as she watches the farm grows smaller in sight and the car drives all the way to the airport.

**:::^*^:::**

Meanwhile… in another world.

A year later...

He groans at the little pain he is feeling on the back, but he does not open his eyes.

**BOOM!**

His eyes snap open in alert and stands up, only to trip and falls forward on the hard floor. He feels something different about himself, but he ignored it when another explosion was heard. With fear implanted in his mind, the young reploid quickly scrambles up and runs out of the room, escaping whatever made the loud noise. He runs down the hall, jumping over trash and debris on the way. And once he accidentally triggered something causing him to dash so fast, he nearly hits the wall on that turn.

Eventually, he manages to find the exit and makes his way there with questions in his mind.

'Where is my navi? Where is Rockman? Where am I?' he thought, as he slips and rolls down on the spillway and lands on a pile of junks. He gets up to find himself in a open, dry but polluted man-made river, above him are noises of shooting and dim flashes. Not wanting to get caught in the crossfire, he scrambled up and runs once more. But to some unfortunate luck, he runs into a machine that looks like a praying mantis and he is frozen into place by fear. It took him a full minute to tell his legs to move, but within those moments the machine made a cross-shaped wound on his face.

He yelps in pain, holding his face as he quickly backs off, as the noise only encourage the machine to attack him. He tries to escape the mantis, only it gave chase and attempts to slice him in half. 'Rockman! Where are you?!' he thought frantically and then he trips to the ground, giving the nasty machine the chance to lunge at him. In panic, he threw his arms to his head and braces for the impact and pain…

Nothing…

He lowers his arms, only to see the blades of the mantis-machine have been slice off its arms. The blades are stabbed on the ground, far from them as the machine whines and roars at the lost of weapons.

"Back off, why don't you go bugging someone else." a voice stated coolly and he looks behind him, to see another reploid with his double-edge scythe lit and resting on his shoulder. The mantis shrieks angrily at the newcomer, the reploid merely smirks and quickly finishes it off by slicing it into three more pieces.

As the sliced pieces falls down on the ground, he looks at the scarred reploid on the ground. "Hey kid, are you okay?" he asked.

"Y-yeah… thanks mister…" the young reploid said, still shaky as he stands up.

"The name's Red, kid." The reploid said, he looks at the young reploid and notices the shock in the kid's eyes. 'He's probably newly activated and woke up in the worst time… poor kid.' he thought, then asked for the kid's name.

"Ummm…" he said nervously, his mind is still in a scrambled mess as his system reorganizes the jumbled memories in the right order. Still he wonders about his blue navi and the situation he landed in. Then Red spotted a dog tag around his neck, he takes a look at it and found carvings at the back.

"Axl…" Red said, gently tracing the three letters carved on the dog tag.

"Huh?" the young reploid asked out of confusion.

"It your name, I must say it fits you." Red said and gently drop the tag as it clank on the kid's armor. "So what happened?" he asked and surprisingly in a father-like tone. Heck he even surprise himself by bit.

"I don't remember… all I know is I heard explosions, I ran and fell, and got myself into trouble and you saved me." Axl said, sensing there is no more danger and relaxes a bit.

"I see…" Red said, then notices the bleeding face and he lends the young reploid a piece of cloth to cover it. After that, Red decided to take Axl back to Red Alert since he has no place to go... and he got a feeling that this kid will go far as a Hunter. And so Red led the way to his base, Red Alert, with Axl following behind.

Then...

'Wait... my name is not Axl...' the young reploid thought as he follows the elder reploid to a teleporter. As the system continues to reorganize, a memory of the said blue navi is played in his mind and there he rediscovers his real name and identity.

_"Not again..." the blue navi groans. "You're going to be late for school... Wake up! Hikari Alex Netto!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was posted in Fanfiction.net, so I decided to cross post it here too. Bloopers and the omakes will be post on a different fic as a spin-off. Also, I'll only post the revised chapters, so if stopped then I have not finished revising that particular chapter.


	2. Protectors of two different worlds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They reminisce of their adventure under the stars

Axl… or by his real name: Hikari Alex Netto, is standing on the rooftop of Maverick Hunter HQ. It's been years since he came to this world and he sighs as he stares at the stars.

 **:::^** _Axl's P.O.V._ **^:::**

Man... It's been years and I still haven't found the guy who turned me into this...

I really want to thank him on saving me, and giving me a second chance like what papa did to Rockman. And I have to ask him about my body, how he found and what he done to me... I could also ask him if he met my older brother.

I'm thankful on the fact that I'm in a parallel world. If this is the dystopian future or the aftermath of Nebula's attacks, I would probably shoot myself right on the head. This world is similar but a lot different from mine, in terms of technology. In my home world, my grandpa studied computer programming, competed against Wily with his research in computer network and the government chose his project which opened the net to the world. But here in this world, it seems Wily's research in robotics won instead... I don't know what happened after that, either there were no records of it or are wipe out in a wide-scale disaster. Robotics and machinery are highly advance, the reploids here can afford having homes and cars of their own. Computers and the network, on the other hand, is somewhat behind compared to my home, but they nevertheless tried to improve their anti-virus programs for reploids. There is also a cyber world in this place but this world barely scratches the surface of it. Unlike in my world, where the entire cyber world and the network is a top priority, here it is placed on the back burner.

I've also change a bit since I woke up in this world, just to fit in and not stick out like a sore thumb. Not to mention the looks too, I got auburn, spiky hair and green eyes... I wonder what will mom react if she sees my new eye color... She'll say me and Rock match now, for sure...

I am very grateful to Red, who saved and took me in. He is the leader of Red Alert, a organization of bounty hunters using any means to take out the mavericks and to protect the innocents. He became my mentor in combat and I slightly surprised him on breezing thru his training courses... but I decided to tone a bit down after that. However, what really surprised him and other members is the fact that I'm more of an expert on computers from anyone else. I accidentally hack an impressive and highly secure government system while trying to find more information about this world, and I have no clue what I was hacking that time. It seems my memories of being a NetOp and my new computerize brain, have compromise and adapt it into hacking skills. I was discovered and they had me in charge with data collection, as in hacking and stealing info. After passing the tests from Red, he gave me a pair of guns as a graduation gift. He said that he found the guns in the same place where he found me, and thought that these were meant for me. On taking the guns, a part of my system jumped to life as it recognized the guns, which is now called 'Axl Bullets'.

I smiled at the memories of the times I spent with Red and the Red Alert members, all the good, the bad and the annoying ones. A vein pops out of my head when I remembered Vanishing Gungaroo calling me a daddy's boy right in front of Red after a successful mission... Despite, I prayed for him to be accepted in heaven, I really want to smack him on the face.

Time passed by and I became the best member in Red Alert, and sometimes Red would ask me to join in his missions. To be honest, I consider Red as my second father, since he was very concern about me and quite fatherly. He would also point out any flaw I make and correct them, and he looks proud when I win or successfully finish the missions given to me. The people there were also nice, since they consider me as one of them...

A family...

And while I was in training, I discovered something about my new body. For starters, I'm a New Generation Reploid... Why am I a New Generation? I can transform into any reploid, thanks to the Copy Chip inside me and as long as I have the DNA of that target. Also I cannot be infected by any viruses, they guessed that my Copy Chip deletes anything that is harmful for me... but in truth, it's all thanks to my human side. There are a few time I took a look inside of me, and there I have a special immune system. It is a odd combination of biological organism, data and machinery, which seems to work well together. Unlike the normal reploid immune system, mine is constantly improving and evolving it's defenses against virus.

... Which reminds me that when the government decided to mass produce my kind, I decided to hide the third component of the New Gen. Reason is that I don't want these people turning themselves into hybrids like me, and that it will be harder for X to fight back cause they're part human.

... Why do I get the feeling something will go downhill...?

Speaking of bad situations, I learned how a reploid can turn into a maverick. Either they harm others or they are infected by a virus called the Sigma Virus. I also once heard that the source of the virus was from a reploid called Sigma, who was once the leader of Maverick Hunters. But he got infected by some virus which merges with his system, thus creating the Sigma Virus, gone rogue and began spreading them causing chaos everywhere.

Okay, I'm starting to wish that my PET is right here, with my brother in it. Then we go virus busting and when the virus materializes in physical form, I would go in, deleting them in my Cross Fusion form... I know, I know, it won't happen, so back to the story...

At the beginning, I thought that I was working for good, saving innocent lives and protecting others despite breaking the laws. Yeah, Red Alert is a group of mercenaries and bounty hunters, but we upheld a code of honor... until something turns wrong. A reploid, who calls himself the 'Professor', joined the group stating that he sympathize at our cause and given my friends power ups/improvements. Then Red asked for some DNA data for the Professor to study on and I gave a few. Then he kept asking for more and then I noticed the other members seems to be getting too powerful. When I realized what they are actually doing and the fact that they used me as a cheat code power-up tool...

Not only that... we also broke our code.

So I quit.

Because of that I left Red Alert and headed to the Maverick Hunters to join them, since they do fight for what is right. As I made my way there, mavericks were in the area. Red sent them after me so I went maverick busting, shooting some of them left and right till a big one nearly land on me. I recognize the huge mechaniloid, Mega Scorpion, and quickly ran away from it. Then I ran passed someone who yelled at me to stop, so I stopped to yell back at this person to run. On first look, I thought it was a blonde girl, that this until this reploid spoke and the deep voice revealed the fact that he's a guy. He wears a red armor and carries a beam saber… He reminds me of Blues, Enzan's net navi, minus the shades and quite… feminine?

Sorry dude, but when one looks at you from a certain angle, you'll be mistaken as a girl for the rest of your life. So better thank the guy who made you for giving you a deep voice.

So we both ran, getting rid of some small annoyances on the way, then battled the mechaniloid, lend him a helping hand by shooting it behind, destroyed it and then I got arrested all in one sitting...

Well I was once a member of a vigilante organization, who breaks the laws and given the Maverick Hunters some headache, but saved a lot of people before this happen... so yeah, it's sort of justified...

But the one who arrested me is none other than Zero, one of best hunters and one of my role models. At that time, I kinda wanted to smash my head on a hard surface, for not recognizing the red hunter when I first saw him. Red armor, long blonde hair... I guess I was too busy doing keep-away from that mechaniloid. He bought me to the Hunters HQ and there I began asking about X, like on why he retired from the front lines. For one thing, I never seen or ever thought of what X looks like. But I heard he was the greatest hunter ever lived since he beaten Sigma and survived the Maverick Wars six time. And he and Zero were the reasons why I was so inspired to become a Hunter, to fill a missing piece in my life since I'm probably no longer a Net Saviour.

And when I met X, I nearly have a heart attack!

... Errr... I mean a reboot! He looks like an older version of my brother! Same armor color, same eye color and the same face only difference is he's older and more mature!

Now this world wants to creep me out!

Err… let's get back to the story shall we?

He wasn't happy and clearly displease to see me... well, I can't blame him, since Red Alert just sent one of the worst mechaniloids after me and cause quite a damage on that highway. Despite he looks like an older version of my brother, he'll clearly different from him due to his eyes... it is dull and worn, clearly seen many things that cannot be unseen and yet, it held a bit of kindness in them.

Then Red contacted the Maverick Hunter base and issued a challenge, after I refused to go back. He sent eight mavericks into different locations and all of them are my former comrades. I opted to go after them since it was my fault and made a deal with X, I went out to hunt them with Zero. And one by one, we knock them down, earning some respect from Zero... and probably, a little from X. After we manage to save all the civilian reploids from every missions, X jumps back into action and everyone is glad that he's back in the front lines... although he still opposes using violence.

And once, just once, they nearly killed me during one of our mission. Hey! Those guys can't kill a human! It's in the "Three Laws", for Pete's sakes!

... Well... reploids are not bound by those laws cause they were built to be similar to humans. I guess I could let it pass as they have no idea what I am.

After the 7th Maverick Uprising and defeated Sigma who's behind all this, it took me a long time to become a Maverick Hunter. Because X is still against it and being the pacifist... let's say he's worse than my brother. But eventually, after a few change on my fighting style and strategy, he gives in and allowed me to become a Hunter. I'm glad to be accepted and I now officially team up with X and Zero in some missions. I finally got some new friends and I might consider them as family...

However, they only know me as a trigger-happy, over-confident and humorous new member of the Maverick Hunters... I never told them, not even Red Alert, that I'm a human-reploid hybrid nor I'm from an alternate world that is near similar to theirs.

And even if I found a place to stay, I still miss my world. I miss my friends. I miss my family: papa, mama, my Net Navi and brother Rockman and… my sister Sora.

I'm having strange dreams about my sister, Sora, from time to time. I only met her on rare occasions during visits to our grandmother before her death, I didn't really know that she was my sister till I was nine. We once both kept a promise to contact one another, well... we both try to uphold it but seeing how busy she was in both farm and school, not to mention on those robot contests she kept joining in...

Well... we try, but we ended up radio silence at one another.

Come to think of it, I think her talents might come in handy in my situation... if she could only find her way here...

Anyway, on my first dream, Sora is in her CF form and is fighting against a huge navi with Enzan. I realized that she took my place as a Net Saviour, and she continues where I left off. Then she got hit by a punch and it sent her flying to SciLab, knocking her out. I began yelling at the thing to leave my sister alone, until I felt a force suddenly pulled me down and landed beside her. And when she came to...

She saw me.

"Netto?" Sora said in shock and I looked at myself. I was back in my human look, except for the fact that I am transparent ghost. And then I encourage her, telling her to not give in and I felt that I need to give her the power she needs to defeat that thing. So I concentrate and pass down enough power for her to win this fight, and I also sense something else is powering her up too. And I was surprise on what I did, what I gave her was enough for her and her navi to go Full Synchro.

"Thanks Netto." Sora said with a smile, as her CF form glowed with strength and jumps back into battle. I watched her fight against that thing and I must say that I'm impressed. After she won the battle, I began to fade...

"Netto!" Sora shouts, running to me and then I notice the screen behind her. Something is forming in it and then I realize that it was...

"Netto!" Rockman shouts before I faded away and jerked myself awake, hitting my face on the capsule's door.

These dreams happens rarely, the last time I dream about my sister is fighting at what looks like an gigantic black navi. And I began to think… that my link with my siblings hasn't been destroyed, but it is only cut and needed to be reconnected. That fact made me happy but it also made me sad... because I still have no clue or idea on how to go back. And if I did, will they recognize me?

... Will they accept me?

I sighed and looked up the clear night sky, I notice how pretty yet sad to look at the stars… And I feel like my family and my friends are like them... so close yet so far.

"I wish to meet you guys again." I whispered, as I raise my hand to reach for a star. Then the alarm went off, knocking out of my daze and nearly losing my balance. I quickly make a run to the meeting room where Signas should give out our mission, but when I opened the door...

"Whoa!" I yelped, as I bumped on Zero, then he bump on X and we fell on the floor on top of one another like dominos.

"Axl!" both X and Zero shouts at me.

"Sorry!" I apologized quickly, as I got off and helps the two up... Man, this is gonna be a long debriefing.

**:::^*^:::**

In Den Tech city … At the Hikari's residence.

On the rooftop is Sora, lying there under the stars and feeling the cool breeze. She sighs, and looks up at the stars again.

 **:::^** Sora's P.O.V. **^:::**

It's been four years since I decided to become a Net Saviour... Have Triela and the others won that robot tourney...?

I sigh... my life has changed since I came here. After I met my parents at the airport, the government told me to use Rockman instead of Rouge. Fortunately, Rockman didn't accept me as his NetOp and stayed with dad despite of the demands from the government. To be honest, I've been with Rouge since I first got her, so I'm not trading her for any navi. Heck even Rockman, who's happened to be my older brother, agreed with me that time. Well, after the "argument", the government allowed me to have Rouge as my partner and gave me some battle chips that my brother left behind.

A few days after that fiasco and before I was tested for Cross Fusion, I was first enrolled to my brother's elementary school. There, I met my brother's teacher, Mariko-sensei and I was placed in the same class where my brother used to be... I have a gut feeling that someone manipulated my placement.

Anyway, there I met Netto's friend, they welcome me into the group and my first friends in this new life. However, there is someone who's distancing from me. I tried befriending her but she always keeps her distance, eventually Meiru and her family moved to America. At first I thought she was anti-social, till Dekao tells me that Meiru has a crush on my brother. I guess that she has not move on from my brother's death and possibly could not accept me taking over... Then again, I took my brother's job in order to protect our parents.

One week passed and after Rouge and I got used to the places, my dad bought me to SciLab to test our Synchro rating and to get our license and chip. And while there, I met Commissioner Kifune, who then later introduces me to Enzan and Laika. And for one unfortunate thing... both boys are walking ice cubes! I mean they are so mean to me! Bossy too!

Unfortunately, I have to work with them in every mission. GAH!

At first, our priority is to get rid of the Darkloids and stop the spreading of the Dark Chips. That was pretty much the mission till we have to delete an innocent navi whose NetOp used a Dark Chip on it. We never felt so sorry and guilty, when the NetOp cried so hard for the navi. And so we decided to do something about it... instead, we captured the infected navis and sent them to dad to make the vaccine.

They tried that before Netto's death, but I managed to convince them to make the vaccine again. It was a great plan... but a certain Darkloid seems to be immune to it…

Dark Blues, or formerly Blues, was Enzan's navi before he used the Dark Chip on him. The IPC vice-president, heck I was surprised on learning that, gave up on his navi and gave the Net Police the permission to delete him after Netto's death. Once I decided not to go against it, because of the fresh wound in his heart after what Dark Blues did to my brother. I encountered his navi many times, sometimes alone or with Laika and Searchman. We tried using the vaccine chips to weaken him but never seem to work, so dad has to work hard to improve the vaccine in order to beat him.

Then the unexpected happened...

On one encounter, I was alone and Laika is in Sharo attending his duties. This happened in a warehouse where it is in the middle of being robbed, someone escaped with the goods while I ended up doing a violent version of dodge-ball against Dark Blues. While he kept throwing the attacks, I kept questioning him as I avoided his attacks and tried to hit him with any chance I can get. Then something crack... as if a glass broke or smashed, and Dark Blues fell on the floor holding his head in great pain. Out of concern, considering he is still Enzan's navi, I went to him and I got the surprise of my life...

"I'm s-sorry... I-it wa-wasn't me-e... h-help..." he spoke, my eyes widen at the tears that slid out of his eyes behind the bright red shade. Then a sharp pain made him screamed and logged out from the battle as the Dimensional Area disappear. And I realized that... the Dark Chip is not only corrupting the navis...

It's torturing their souls inside...

After that encounter, I was determined to change everything... I want to save Blues, I forgave him on all the terrible things he committed due to the Dark Chip. Rouge wasn't keen on my ideas but she soon agreed and we began planning out on how to save him. But I can't do this alone, so I went for a chat with Enzan. At first, I was interested in Blues' fighting style, then I slowly moved to a sensitive topic which causes him to shout at me... Yup, he definitely disagreed to my ideas and asked me why I don't hate him.

I told him. "It's pointless, I mean it's really pointless to hate someone when it will only hurt. Plus I forgave him... so the only way now is to rescue him."

With that and a lot of convincing, I mean a lot, he slowly agreed on trying to save Blues again... another chance. So we set up a trap, thanks to dad's help, and as we began preparing for the upcoming battle... I came across a fortune teller.

He called me and reads my fortune... He told me that I'm unique, he finds it's rare to find those qualities in a person and told me that I'm not the only one. He also told me that the road I will take will be a rough one but I'm not alone, yet I must be prepared. He then gave me a battle chip, it is called Rainbow Aves and told he to use it as a last resort.

After that, I rushed back to the base and began the operation. Laika and Searchman is with me, Rockman too... but he's with dad and the others as the line of defense. As we wait, doubt is crossing on Enzan's face, I guessed he still could not forget what he did...

Then the alert went off and I cross fused with our navis upon Dark Blues arrival. But things didn't go into plan when Laika immediately shoots the improve Vaccine Chip at him too early. That was supposed to be use when he is tired! Because of that, all hell break loose and it ends up destroying half of the building, nearly burying us!

Things even went hard when Enzan cross fused with his navi, to stop him, and... we end up battling against him since he got affected by the Dark Chip.

I then remembered my new battle chip and uses it on the Darkloid, it appeared to be a multicolored shaped bird and it wrapped around him. He tried to escape by damaging it but no avail... but it did suck me into the multicolored wrap though. There I met up with Enzan and Dark Blues and discovered how he and Blues met, then Dark Blues destroyed that memory. I got angry by it and battled against him, he winced in pain when he touch my icon... The A.R.M.O.R. system, Hikari Armor, we got from grandpa acts similarly to Rockman's PET yet different. It can absorb the darkness and then turns it into a positive energy of our own. But that wasn't enough to beat him completely when he used the same attack that killed my brother on me... I survived it but I don't think I can handle the next.

But Enzan arrived and he faces his navi, he remembered what I said to him and thanked me. He then began moving forward to Dark Blues... apologizing and promising that everything will be okay once the Dark Chip is gone. Of course, he got injured by Dark Blues attacks but it didn't matter to him. And when he reached his navi, he hugged him and I sensed something bad disappeared. The Darkloid then points us to the direction where the real Blues is as he disintegrated into dust. We then went back into the manor to find Blues on the floor, and Enzan is happy to have him back...

After that incident both of us were hospitalize, but Enzan got the most damage and is needed to stay. Both of our navis were sent to SciLab for check-up. And Laika... well, he's annoying me with no end but he was impressed on what Rouge and I did.

Since then, Enzan and Laika became my friends as Blues and Searchman to Rouge. The chip I received last time suddenly disappeared without a trace. I looked for it but found nothing, heck even the fortune teller is gone. Since then, I hang out with Enzan and Laika during the day offs and I began to think that chip bought us together… just a possible theory, folks.

And finally, the head hancho of the evil organization, Nebula, appeared. It was Dr. Regal. He is the main reason why Blues is corrupted by the Dark Chip and why my younger brother is dead. It was the final battle and I got myself punched to the roof of the SciLab. And as I came to... I saw a hologram of my brother in front of me. No, not Saito, it's Netto! I was really surprise, and then he and the other net navis gave me some strength to go full Synchro and fight against my opponent. And with it, we won the battle and Dr. Regal is gone for good. And Netto?

He disappeared before Rockman or I could get near at him.

Well, since peace is short, several enemies like Duo, Beyondard Wily, the Cyberbeast, the Professor and Cache appeared. The last time Netto appeared to help, is on the time me and Rockman are Cross Fused and fighting against Cache. He gave us three strong Soul Unison to use against Cache, and then... he once more disappears from us.

Today, Rockman didn't mind being with me and is happy that I'm his sister. Still he remains with dad, unless I have a mission that requires two navis to operate. I'm in a relationship with Enzan and Laika is my best friend. I hang out with Dekao, Tohru and Yaito and sometimes they would aid me on my missions if they got involved, and Meiru... She would often visit the group on a family vacation, but she still keeps her distance from me.

But there is one thing I can't help to wonder… Is Netto alive...? If so, where is he? And what's with the holograms?

Whatever it is, I'm determine to find out what really happen to my brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACTS: I made a typo mistake on a character's name XD! Rouge's name is suppose to be Rogue, but back then I didn't know that Rouge is different from Rogue. Rouge is a color! But I decided to keep this typo into the story, and will be a backstory for Sora's partner.


	3. Breaking the walls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An intruder and a unpleasant dream... On the other side, just another day of duty.

X and Zero have returned from their last battle on the moon, with the blue hunter carrying Axl in his arms. Apparently, the young reploid got hit by a tentacle on the head from Lumine's battered body, before it is destroyed by a charge shot from the blue hunter. Once they left their young charge in the repair bay, the two have no idea that Axl is inside his own system... fighting against Lumine's DNA.

**:::^*^:::**

He wakes up and with surprise, he finds himself inside the cyberworld. Unlike Snipe Anteator's cyberworld, this one looks more like the cyber world from his birth world. The programs and applications looks nearly alike to the programs and applications in his birth world. They float around, work and some of them even greeted him! He was clueless on what is going on and how he got into the cyber world, but then he notices something is wrong with the area when the programs are panicking and fleeing. There are white and purple spots on the blue program tiles, he can tell that it is not a good sign. So he followed the trail and not too far, he spots someone...

Lumine.

Although the lavender and white reploid retains his appearance in his navi form, he does not have his armor and looks more sleeker.

"Intriguing... these programs are quite advance. Is it because he's the prototype and the base of our design?" the former project director wonders before smiling on what he learn. "They think it is over... once I combine myself in his programming, I'll slowly take him over and kill those two relics. The revolution shall live once more!" Lumine states and chuckles evilly.

"Hey!" He turns around in alert and is shock to see the prototype-new gen inside his own system.

'But how?' he thought. "What are you doing here? How are you able to manifest in your own system?" he demands.

"In my wha?" the auburn teen utters on learning that somehow and in some unknown way, he is able to enter his own system like a Net Navi. He looks at his own body and notices the sleek design compare to his reploid body. '... That... that explains why this place looks similar to the cyberworld back home.' he thought, he had a guess that his system modeled itself to look similar to the system back in his birth world due to his memories.

"Answer me, how are you able to manifest in your own system?" demanding once more, as it snaps the young reploid out of thought and glares at lavender and white reploid.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that question? Nevertheless, I won't allow you to take over my body!" The auburn teen shouts as he summons his guns from the system. But the intruder quickly uses a wave of power by the simple wave of his arm, it flings Axl off his feet and then crashes to a cyber wall.

"Fool, you think you can stop me." he shouts, orange eyes glowed as glowing purple orbs appeared around him. With a wave of his hands, all of the orbs went flying towards Axl. He braces for impact when he felt something inside him, swiftly changing as the attacks hits him and is covered in smoke. The intruder smugly smiles for he knew that the prototype would not survive that attack...

Until a shot came out of no where and hits Lumine through his chest... right on his core program.

Lumine shrieks in pain, staggering back and covers his injured chest. "What?" he wince, as the smoke dissipates.

When the smoke cleared, there is a different figure standing there. It's a young boy wearing a two tone blue jumpsuit, although lacking armor, he has a odd circular, metal protector on his chest with a red and black icon. With matching blue gloves and boots (his right arm is a buster cannon), yellow shoulder pads, a blue helmet with a shade of yellow and green on the middle, brown hair poking out of the back, matching brown eyes and a mask. The boy at first was serious with his buster aiming at the intruder, then is startled at himself and began examining himself. The mask is then removed and happiness is shown on his face.

"W-who are you? What are you?!" the intruder demands as his body slowly dissolves into particle data, due to being shot right on his core program.

The boy looked back to him, remembers what's going on and presumed his stance. He find it surprising that the intruder somehow is able to keep his data together. "I guess I could confess some few things..." he said, pointing his buster at the intruder and began charging. "I'm Axl, but before I became like this I was once a human... named Hikari Alex Netto."

On hearing that, Lumine could only stare at the boy with shock as the charge shot hits him. 'Is that why...' but his thought is never finish as his data is completely deleted.

Axl smiled a bit knowing X and Zero will be safe, but he fell on his knees as his old human-CF form disappears and reverts back into his default form. The programs in him are scrambling to fix the problem, as he lies down on the system floor. 'What the... What is happening? Ugh...' Axl AKA Netto thought as the human-reploid hybrid feels weak and in a bit of pain.

He whispers two of the most important people to him, before he completely blacks out...

 **:::^** _Network Realm_ **^:::**

In Den Tech, Akihabara.

" _Sora... Rockman..."_

Rockman jerks awake upon hearing that and realizes who it is.

"Netto?" Rockman whispered, as he felt the link grew stronger by the moment but it disappeared as it came. "... Netto... are you still out there?" Rockman whispered, as he stared at the empty room that was once occupied by his brother.

**:::^*^:::**

Meanwhile in the city…

"Battle chip, Sword! Slot-in!" a girl shouts as her right arm took a form of a light blue sword. She dashes at a virus and slices it in half, while her teammates deletes some of them on their side. Then viruses came charging above them and the three avoid it, which then met it's end on the red swordsman's blade. The girl and the red swordsman does a somersault to avoid the lasers that came from the virus behind them. This trick distracted the viruses from their third teammate, who is in camouflage mode and summoned a few Satellite Rays. The Dimensional area then breaks down and disappears, and the three are back into their normal clothing. As the girl dust off the dirt on her sleeveless coat which reaches her knees, a man came with a smile and congratulates them.

"Congrats, you guys manage to finish your training in 6 minutes flat." He said, as he claps.

"Well, the enemies that you sent was too easy, Meijin." Laika scoffed. As he places his PET on his belt, so did the other boy.

"Well, at least we can learn new tricks and improve some of the old ones. After all, we can't use the same attack over and over... it's like we're teaching the virus on how to avoid and then strike back." She said, wincing on the last part and putting her PET on her customized armlet.

"Sora is right, Laika." Meijin said, as he adjusted his glasses. "Remember what her father said, that we should constantly improve and upgrade our styles in order to protect the world better. Speaking of improvements, here are your results…" He states that Sora lag a bit on one move and Enzan just missed one virus, which the brunette shoot out. Laika remains the same like his last training, which the two gives him the look as he shrugs out of awkwardness.

After discussing the results of the training and encouraging word for improvement, Sora and her friends makes their way home.

"See you tomorrow!" she said, as she gives her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek, waves her best friend good bye and then drops her skateboard on the sidewalk. She hops on it and skates all the way home.

When she reaches home. "I'm back, mom!" She announced, as she removes her boots and grabs her slippers from the rack.

"Welcome home, Sora, can you tell papa that it's dinner time." Haruka calls as she sets the table.

"Sure thing, mom" Sora said, as she put on her slippers and head to her father's office. She knocks at the door. "Dad! Dinner Time!" she said, then she saw something... or someone...

There in the living room is a stranger, wearing a white cloak with a hood so the face is hidden but she can see that this person has a ghostly smile. Sora just stands there like a statue, wondering who this person is and if they are a visitor for her dad. The door of the office opens and snaps her back to reality.

"Hey Sora." Yuuichiro greeted his daughter and she looks at her father.

"Dad, do you have any... Huh?" Sora said, as she turns around and only saw at the empty living room.

"Have what?" Yuuichiro asked.

"Err... Nothing." Sora said, thinking it must have been her imagination. "So how's your day, dad?" she asked, changing the subject. And so after dinner, Sora helped her mom on the dishes while her father walks back to the office. Unknown to them, the stranger that Sora saw earlier, is standing right in front of their house and as the car passed by, they disappeared.

**:::^*^:::**

The next day...

Sora is bored... the fact that she lived in America for 11 years, made English Class her least favorite subject. For her, there's no point to attend this class except that it is part of the curriculum.

'Dang, this class is sooooo boring!' she thought, as she aimlessly scribble random doodles or computer equation in her notebook. The head of the school allowed the Net Saviour to wear civilians, since there are times the viruses attack during classes. The brunette remembers how many patches her mom sewn on her uniform, after a burning battle that nearly burn her clothes off. Thus it is decided to let them wear whatever they want, to prevent their uniforms from getting mutilated and for the parents to save money from buying new uniforms after the fights.

Finally the bell rang and Sora would've jump for joy, when her PET rings. She took her PET and answers it. "Sora here." She said as she packs her stuffs in the bag.

"Sora, Dad and the Commissioner has another mission for you. Meijin-san have contacted Enzan and Laika, wait for them at the front gate." Rockman said, who appeared in a mini screen and she hears a faint 'san wa iranai.' on the speakers.

"Okay, tell them that we are on our way." Sora said, as she slings her bag and he nodded before heading back to his PET. She is currently in middle school while Enzan and Laika are in colleges. But she's not alone as Tohru and Dekao are in this school...Yaito, on the other hand, like her teammates, went to college but in Europe. After receiving a permission from the principal to leave early, she waited by the gate for her boyfriend's limo.

 **:::^** _Machina Domain_ **^:::**

Meanwhile… At Maverick HQ.

A few days after the 8th Maverick uprising... Axl's damage is not that serious, and his immune system have protected him from whatever Lumine hit him with.

But... it seems there is troubling him...

 **:::^** _Dream_ **^:::**

Axl is running... he is running across the ruin of a city and is frantically searching for something.

Fear and terror sunk in upon seeing the mutilated bodies of the Maverick Hunters and reploids...

Once again, he runs...

Eyes widen at the sight of the broken and dead bodies of X and Zero.

But he does not stop.

He continues to run... the scenery changes into something familiar.

Home.

And then, he saw a stranger on a massacre and he is still killing...

His family and his friends, all of their bodies littered on the floor covered in blood.

Then he heard a slash and sees the stranger killing his brother and his sister.

He screamed.

 **:::^** _End of Dream_ **^:::**

The young reploid is tossing and shaking in his capsule, but the nightmare wouldn't let him go. Then the blue hunter walks in to check on him and sees his young friend having a nightmare. "Axl? Axl! Wake up! AXL!" X said, forcing the pod open and shaking the young reploid awake... which is a mistake. The redhead jerks himself awake, his eyes wide from horror as he pants and sweat.

"Axl, calm down." the blue hunter said carefully, the teen looks at his side and saw him. But to his horror, he is pointing his gun on his comrade's head, so he quickly puts the gun down and muttered an apology as he calms his system by breathing in and out. "Are you okay?" he asked, a little shaken from the action before.

"Y-yeah, just a really, really, REALLY bad dream, that's all." the teen said, as his gun disappears into subspace.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Axl and X became close like brothers, after the seventh Maverick uprising and accepting the young reploid as a Hunter. X would see Axl as his little brother, he doesn't know why he is overprotective on him or that they get along well. And Axl would see X as his big brother, because sometime he protects him from any harm… and those actions sometimes remind him of his digital older brother, Rockman AKA Saito.

"No, not today. I'm- I can't-" the young reploid stuttered, looking out the window as he shakes the remaining leftovers of the nightmare. He can explain the first part, but the last part...?

"... It's okay..." Not wanting to push the issue and gives the auburn teen some time to calm himself. "Oh, and Signas wants us all at the meeting room 103 in 19:00" X said and the auburn just nods. And the blue hunter left the room, still a little shaken from what happened.

"X, are you okay? You look like Vile had scared the shit out of you with a Ride Armor again." The red hunter said, who is about to check on their young friend... only to find X looks shaken and concern.

"Y-yeah, it's n-nothing. U-uh... we got a m-meeting with Signas in 1-19:00." he stuttered but Zero raises his eyebrow.

"And stuttering is nothing?"

"Fine... Axl point his gun at me"

"He did?" The red hunter is surprise that Axl did that.

"Well... he's having a nightmare and I have to wake him up." As he and Zero walk together down the hallway.

"I see... Axl better gets over it, otherwise he'll get suspended and have to be check in the repair bay." the blonde hunter said, as they head to their office. "And you know that kid hates being tied down." as his friend seems to agree.

Back in the room, Axl observes the stars out by the window. Star-gazing is one of his secret hobbies, and it is also a way to remind him about the fact that he is still human and belonged to another place. He sighs and jumps out of his capsule, he makes his way to Lifesaver for his check-up before heading for the training area to get back in shape.

 **:::^** _Network Realm_ **^:::**

Back in Den Tech... in SciLab.

"So our mission is to find that lab, retrieve the stolen items and shut it down their operation." Enzan points out the details, as Sora and Laika trailed behind him and Meijin debriefs them about the the situation. While the IPC Vice President is the de facto leader of the three, still he considers his girlfriend as the leader from time to time.

"Yeah, they stole some government equipment from America and China and then shipped it out of the two countries. We do not know what their motives are but an our intel told us that they found the exact location of the hideout." Meijin said, walking down the hall and making their way to the lab.

"But what does this have to do with us? Can't they send a SWAT team or something?" Sora asked, as they entered the lab both Yuuichiro and Meijin are working in.

"There's a problem..." Meijin said, as the type something in the computer nearby and shows a video surveillance of the enemy's base. The screen shows an old warehouse near the port in a freezing landscape and is surrounded by viruses that have taken physical form.

"Okay... so where is it?" Sora asked as her father and the commissioner enters the room, with Netto's PET on Yuuichiro's belt and Rockman on his shoulder.

"Apparently, it's in Sharo." Meijin said and that made the Sharo agent very angry.

"WHAT!" He bellowed, everyone except for Enzan cringed.

Somehow, the enemy have push the wrong button and will get the end of Laika's and Searchman's Scope Gun on their face.

"Whoa, Laika, calm down..." the brunette said nervously as she tries to calm her teammate down. And Laika slowly did, but is still steaming in annoyance that the enemy is using his precious homeland as their hiding place. Both Sora and Rouge knows how prideful he is of his home country, to use that place for enemy hideout is asking to be a target for the sniper.

'Laika is out for a massacre...' the female navi thought and shook her head, pitying the idiots.

"So are we facing a new threat right now? But what do they want?" Enzan asked as he tries to get more information about their enemy, and letting his friend cool down a bit. Then his girlfriend spotted some Synchro Chips on the table, with some slight difference. For instance, they are silver-white than metallic blue and has red colored orbs at the center instead of green. "Hey dad, are those Synchro Chips?" she asked.

"Yes, but they are a new version and they are much more improved" Yuuichiro said.

"New version?" the IPC Vice President asked.

"These chips are made from the rarest metal ever found in this world and it contains the Dimensional Generator program, this is the most improvement we made on the Cross Fusion right now. Remember, last year, our Dimensional Generator got broken and you guys have to fight the viruses without your CF form?"

"Don't remind me that again." the Sharo agent said sourly, as he remembers how he got flung by the enemy in the air and, luckily, landed in the dumpster.

"Me either." Sora agreed, as she picks one of the prototype chips and began observing it. "So these chips can help transform us into our CF form without the Dimensional Area?" she asked, looking at her father.

"Well... yes, but unfortunately they are not ready yet." Meijin said and Yuuichiro nodded.

"How come?" The commissioner asked.

"Every time one of our testers combined with their Navi, they get electrocuted, loose their sanity or worse, death." the head of the SciLab explains and she quickly drops the chip back on the table. "Just kidding, Sora." he added, which in turn his daughter gives him a deadpan look. "Truth is, Cross Fusion with the new versions didn't last long."

"What do you mean?" The IPC Vice President asked, as the Net Navis on their shoulders and looks at the prototype new version with interest.

"Although Cross Fusion with these chips is a success, it immediately collapse after it forms." He points out. "We tried stabilizing it but the problem is mostly on energy. Right now, we're examining whether we should improve the PET or the chip itself is the problem. In any case, these new versions needs more tests before you could use them."

While they continue with the debriefing, the group takes the elevator which will lead to the helicopter on the rooftop pad. The helicopter is piloted by their fellow Cross Fusion teammate, Charlie, who will take them to the airport. However... backing a bit and picking two of the new Synchro Chips. "Sora, didn't your dad told you that these chips are not ready." Rouge points out, as Sora sneakily pockets the said chips.

"Hey, don't worry, I won't use it." Sora replied coolly and quickly follows the group, waiting by the elevator. "I'll just take a look and see what improvement it needs, that way I can lessen dad's workload."

"Wow, that's very nice of you... just don't think of using it." her partner said, giving her a look as they catch up with the group.

Unknown to her, a shadowy figure smiled before disappearing out of sight.

**:::^*^:::**

At a port in Sharo, a plane, car and boat ride later...

"Okay... that's too many!" Sora points out, as they see the port from their boat, about a thousand of viruses surrounding the area. Mostly Mets, air types and a few water types swimming around the harbor. "Thank whoever-is-up-there, that they don't have those cannon-type navis or we'll be drowning if they do." she said and pulls out her PET.

"If there's too many, then that means those whackos are working on something big." Laika said, he too pulls out his PET from his holster.

"Wow, this is the first time I hear you say 'whacko'." the brunette commented at her best friend.

"And I blame you for that."

"Eh?!"

"You been infecting me with your language, so it's your fault." he point it out.

"Oh, and is it my fault that I suggested that crew cut, that I may add, Princess Pride adores so much?"

"Yes, but I'll be thanking you on that one." he said with a smirk, as Enzan climbs to the deck and makes his way to the two.

"Alright... everybody, get ready and hang on!" Enzan exclaims and grips on the railings behind the brunette. The two did what he said and held on, as the boat speeds up and rammed thru the water type viruses. It hits a few more and only stops when it hits the frozen sands.

"Let's go!" Sora said, jumping off the boat as the Dimensional Area takes form around the port and the warehouse.

"Synchro Chip! Slot-in!" The three Net Saviors shouts, slotting the chip in their PET. "CROSS FUSION!" as the light wraps around them, forming a cocoon. When the cocoon breaks, they are in their CF form and deletes some viruses that are in the way. They dash towards the target, to find the hidden base and arrest the madman behind it.

But unknown to them, somebody is watching...

"That's right, find my precious weapon and it will lead you to your doom…" a dark figure said, who sat on a chair and in front of it are monitors observing the three Net Saviors. And that person laughs, knowing that it will be the end of them.

Yet, in the far side of the room... the cloaked stranger watches...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I planned to write a prequel of this story. That will expand and explain more of how Sora's and Rouge's reached their current position and how different they are from the two. As for her relationship with Enzan, it's a slow burn that took the entire series (from Axess to Beast+) for it to form. But they got together a year before this story though.


	4. The Crossing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The CF team falls into a trap and it eliminates the cyber heroines... did it?

"Rouge Chain!" the cross fused form of Sora and Rouge shouts, as she threw the tip of her red blade chain to the enemies destroying a row of them, while CF Blues tries to break the door. CF Searchman shoots his enemies with his Scope Gun, CF Blues repeatedly hit the door with Paladin Sword but it couldn't make a dent or a scratch on it.

"Kuso..." CF Blues swears as he hits the door again and again, until CF Rouge came up with a suggestion. "Maybe the door is protected by a strong firewall…" she suggested.

CF Blues thought it was a silly idea, but CF Rouge told him to switch places with CF Searchman. So both boys switched places and they found out that she's right, there is a firewall protecting the door. 'Seriously, are these thieves are getting smarter...' CF Searchman thought sourly, as he scans the firewall's weakness.

It took him a moment to find the weak area and shoots it, it makes a cracking sound and breaks down. He quickly kicks the door open and they dash inside the warehouse, there are viruses blocking their way but that didn't stop them. Several Metools charges at them, only to retreat when the red swordsman uses the Wave Chip to back them off. Both shooters in the team shoots down flying viruses, which swooped down and attempted to hit them.

"Outta the way! Outta the way!" She shouts as she deleted several viruses with her R-Buster on her left arm. She then back flips when a Aqua Tower nearly hits her, and uses her chain on a fish-type virus. CF Searchman is shooting some of his side, while CF Blues uses Sonic Boom on a group of jellyfish-like viruses.

They manage to move into a new area, where inside there are more viruses that attacks them on entering.

"In here!" CF Blues shouts, spotting a metallic door and he kicks it open. The two dives in and CF Blues quickly shuts the door tight, before backing off when the viruses made some dent on it.

"Well, that was eventful." CF Searchman said, somewhat sourly, as he help CF Rouge stands up.

The three looks around and finds themselves in a long, dim-lit hallway, which either be a good or a bad news for the team. Looking at one another, the Cross Fused Sharo agent takes up the front guard while the two watches their backs. They carefully make their way thru the hall while keeping an eye behind them, they find some rooms but majority of it are empty. It didn't take long for them to reach the end of it. They see a slightly open door and they stand beside the wall for cover. The sniper pokes his rifle in and carefully opens the door... nothing happen. He looks at the two, who nods back at him and they swiftly enter the place with their weapons out.

Nothing...

Seeing that the room seems safe, they examine the place they're in. The room is full of computers, some cable wires, the stolen goods and a weird circular machine on a concrete wall. It looks like a portal converter like the ones they usually show in sci-fi movies or series, on the top is a rectangular shape box-like contraption. The three finally found what they are looking for, but they have no idea on what they are making with it. So CF Rouge and CF Blues are checking some computers, while CF Searchman stares at the machine as if he had a bad feeling that something worse is going to happen.

"Does anyone have an idea what this is for?" the Sharo agent asked, breaking the silence and points at the machine.

"No clue... There are no data or information in this computer." the red swordsman replied, as he moves to the next computer to check it's content.

"Same thing on the other computers" the brunette point out. "Did they delete it's content?"

"It's possible. Whoever they are, they don't want us to find whatever they are planning."

"Still, even if they deleted the files, there should be some traces or leftover data about it. These computers are way too clean."

"Do you think it's a trap?" Rouge asked, thru her and Sora's comm link.

Suddenly, the firewalls came out of nowhere and blocks their only way out and the machine hums to life.

"What the?" CF Blues shouts, when a strange white void formed within the circular machine. But before the three Net Saviors could even think of hacking the firewalls, the computers in the room turns itself on and a shadowy figure appeared on the screen. That person laughs evilly as it said... "Sayonara, Net Saviours"

"Whoa!" CF Searchman yelped, and immediately holds on a pipe on the wall. The two also grabs on the pipes or the railings that are attached to the wall or the ceiling, as the void began to pull them in.

"We have to do something!" CF Rouge shouts frantically, as she hangs on the railing tightly. Then CF Blues saw the rectangular shape box is glowing and took a wild guess that it's the engine of the machine. "Laika! Aim for the box on that thing!" he shouts, as his other arm took form of the Variable Sword.

Unfortunately, it is every difficult to aim on the box if you are fighting against a strong vacuum that will suck you into your doom. Not to mention that every attack they throw was either hit something else or pulled into the void, instead of hitting it's target. "Darn it!" the Sharo Net Saviour cursed, when one of the computers block his shot, hitting the machine at the side.

And it got worse...

The three screamed as the void's power grew stronger and they are hanging for dear life. The navis are panicking and immediately sends out a distress signal to the SciLab but...

"Laika!" CF Rouge shouts, as her teammate lost his grip on the pipe and is sent flying towards the void. She immediately let go of the railing and flew straight to her comrade.

"Gotcha!" she said, then quickly grabs a broken metal rod and stabs it on the ceiling. "Quick, hold on to this!" He did what she said but something hits her fully on the face, causing her to lose her grip in the rod and CF Searchman.

She is pulled into the void.

"SORA!" the two boys shouts, as the engine of the machine overheats and exploded. Smoke covered the whole warehouse and the virus disappears as the Dimensional Area breaks. Soon the smoke cleared, there's a hole on the roof, the Dimensional Area is gone, the two boys are out of their CF forms and seems to be okay... but Sora and Rouge are gone.

**:::^*^:::**

At SciLab...

They received a distressed signal from the Net Saviours and is about to send help when...

Yuuichiro and Rockman stood frozen in place, staring at the screen as Sora's tracking signal disappeared from it. It took them a full moment to realize that Sora is in danger or worse deleted or killed, Yuuichiro quickly flips the communicator on and tries to call his daughter.

"Sora! Can you hear me?" Yuuichiro shouts at the microphone, but all he got was the hissing sound of the radio. The sound he denies and frantically readjust the frequency. "Sora! SORA!" He continues to call for his daughter, denying the hissing sound from the speakers. 'Please answer, Sora! PLEASE ANSWER BACK!'

And Rockman can only stand there in silence... and falls to his knees as tears form in his eyes.

He lost another sibling.

 **:::^** _Machina Domain_ **^:::**

Axl is at the roof top, star-gazing again but this time a shooting star appears, streaking thru the night sky. Despite that it's very childish to wish on the shooting star, he decided to make a wish and clasps his hands together. 'I wish... I could see my friends and my family again, especially Saito and Sora... even if it's just once... just once.' the auburn teen thought before sighing. He knew what he wished for is something impossible... but that is the one thing he desire the most.

Then the alarms went off and he runs back into the base for the debriefing of the mission.

**:::^*^:::**

Groaning, her body feels sore, as if she went on a extreme exercise. She shifts from her position to get comfortable... only to fall to the floor.

"Ow!" she yelps as she sits up from the floor. "What hit me?" wincing as she pulled the blanket off her and massages her back. Looking around, she finds herself in a rather futuristic living room, with her boots and coat near the couch. At first she's a bit clueless on how she got into somebody's house, and then she tried to reach for her PET... only it is not with her.

"Rouge!" she calls, no answer. "Rouge! Where are you?!" as she grabs her boots and hops a bit as she puts it on, then grabs her coat. As she about to look for her missing partner, an old man appears from the kitchen and nearly startled her.

He may look old but his memories are still sharp for one thing. "Sora." He said casually and she is stunned. Despite meeting him a few time during the Duo Incident, she still remember him despite looking... old.

"Oh my... Barrel? You're alive!?" Sora shouts in joy of reuniting with a missing friend, as she gave the elder a hug. "And old!" She added. The "old" Barrel chuckled at her last comment. He maybe that old as a grandpa and got himself a white hair and baggy wrinkles, but he can never forget the granddaughter of Tadashi Hikari who fought with other Cross Fusion members to save their home world from Dr. Regal and Duo.

"Sora!" a voice shouts from the kitchen and the brunette looks inside it. There, on the counter, is her PET charging on a makeshift adaptor and Rouge seems to be talking with Colonel EXE in his Progress PET. "You're up!" she cheers.

"Rouge!" She carefully walks around the elder, as she heads to her PET and is happy to see her partner alright. "It's nice to see you too, Colonel." she added, looking at the other navi as the said black navi nods at her in greetings.

"Are you okay?" her navi asked.

"Yeah, just a bit of a sore body though." the brunette said as she stretch her arms, only to wince when she feels like she pulled a muscle.

"Here." the elder places a cup of tea on the table as he sits down. "This will calm and soothe your pain."

She thank him as she takes her seat on a old but stable stool. Once she takes a drink to soothe the aching body, she notices the odd yet futuristic design of the kitchen. "Barrel, where are we?" Sora asked, as she set her cup down.

"Ah... the better question, child, how did you and your friend get here?" he turns the question back, which made the brunette look at him weirdly. "What happen to you before you got here?" he simplified.

"Well… My friends and I got a mission and went to Sharo, to retrieve some government equipment that was stolen." she recalls her last mission. "There are so many viruses on that single warehouse, but we manage to delete some of them and search the area for the said items. But it turns out... that place was a trap, so we tried to get out and…" as memory of some junk hitting her on the face and knocking her into the void. "Oh my gosh! I GOT SUCK INTO THAT VOID!" she suddenly screamed as she stands so fast that she knock the cup and spills the tea all over the table.

"I see... Sora, calm down." Barrel said, placing a hand on her arm to calm her. She looks at him and breathe out before sitting down again, while the elder takes a rag and cleans up the spilled tea.

"Ummm... Where are we anyway?" The brunette asked, as much as she is happy to meet the elder, she really wants to know where she is now.

Looking around, she saw a lot of things that are out of this world… For instance, the furniture looks too futuristic (even the old stool she's sitting on), there are hovercrafts or flying cars that are passing by the kitchen window like the ones shown in sci-fi shows. She stands and look out of the window, only to see tall and massive buildings, she guessed that she is probably about a hundred feet away from normal ground. She would find this all exciting if it weren't for the smoke and the fire on one of the the top of the buildings, in the distance. Not to mention that there are people in armors that are fighting one another with lasers, and some are rescuing civilians in the burning building. 'This looks like a scene out of a bad cyber-punk movie.' she thought.

"Sora, you are in a parallel world, a different reality." the elder explains. He thought that it's the best to tell her the truth, so she can cope on the situation clearly.

"In a what?" Sora asked, looking at him with wide eyes. 'Another world... again?' she thought, remembering how she and her friends got transported to Beyondard after the fail attempt to capture the two CyberBeasts armies.

"You mean we're like in Beyondard or something like that?" Rouge asked, her small hologram appearing out of her PET.

"I see that the PET have improved..." the veteran soldier smiled at the small hologram, before returning back to topic. "Have you experience traveling to another world?" he asked them when he notices that the girls are not that too surprise. Both girls nodded and he finds breaching the subject is going to be a bit easy. "Yes, somewhat like that, Rouge." as he looks out of the window the girl is looking out. "What you see is a different world, far advance in machinery and it is much more chaotic than our home. Also in this world, Net Navis does not exist and network technology have not advance." Barrel explained, and both girls look at him with shock.

"Then... how did the people survive without the Net Navis?" the brunette NetOp asked.

"There are being called Reploids, they are androids who can feel emotions and can think and learn on its own. Think of them as navis in a durable, physical bodies."

"Sentient robots? That's quite awesome." the brunette in awe and curious of this world.

"But aren't those dangerous?" the female navi asked, remembering their past experience with Copybots. Plus she might have read/watch too much fictions about robot uprising and how they usurps their creators, while a group of humans fights back the said uprising.

"Rouge, we've been fighting viruses and bad navis that were materializing in reality. This is no different."

"Well, yes and no." Barrel said. He began to explain the world that the two landed in, and they discover that this world has some few similarities to her own. It only takes them about a few hours for both Sora and Rouge to understand the situation, then Barrel stood up and walk back to his room. He returns with his coat on and two meduim-sized duffel bags. "Here." He said, tossing out one and landed near her feet causing her to jump a bit as she removes her PET from the charger.

"What?" Sora asked, picking up the bag and began looking what's inside of it. In the bag are foods, a modified PET and battle chip chargers, some disks, first aid kits and some stuff she couldn't see below.

"We need to go... we're in a dangerous part of this city, there are stray mavericks roaming around in this area." Barrel said, picking up his PET and places it in his bag.

"Okay..." Sora said, zipping the bag close and a little bit unsure on the new adventure she landed in. But it's better to run than to fight against those mavericks, which Barrel said, without the Dimensional Area. As soon as they are out of the old apartment they were staying, they began to climb the stairs and rode on some elevators to get to the top part of the city. They stick with the shadows and back alleys, not wanting to be spotted by the androids as they climb up... and as they go up, both girls notices something off in this city.

But...

"Sora! Get down!" Barrel shouts, as he pushes her down on the ground and a stray plasma shot nearly hits them. He then got up, tells her to stay down and runs to the area to see what it is.

"Ow... take note: take dodge ball again to learn how to dodge." She notes sourly as she got up, rubbing her sore spot a bit. Ignoring what Barrel told her, she follows and spots him with a pair of mavericks surrounding him.

"Alright, give us that program, old man." One of the mavericks demanded, as he points his buster at the old colonel, right on the face.

"Barrel!" Sora shouts and runs to him only to be caught as a hostage.

"Why don't we rephrase that... Give us the program now or this girl will die." The other said, as he places his beam dagger on her throat. The brunette sweats as she feels the heat from it.

This cause Rouge to panic. 'Argh! I can't even save her' Rouge thought, as she tries to think of a good plan. 'Dang it, there are time I hate being a stuck in here!'

"I don't have it with me, I've hid the program far from the city." Barrel spoke calmly. "How about a deal? If you let her go, I'll go with you and show you where it is." causing the young girl to stare at him with shock as the two maverick thinks it over.

'Barrel! What are you doing?!' the brunette thought frantically, the old man gives her a look that says 'Calm down'. The two then decides to agree on the old man's condition, so they threw the girl into a dumpster and drags the old man to the truck.

"Barrel!" Sora shouts, as she scrambles to get out and go after the truck. But by the time she got out of the dumpster, the truck is far from her reach and disappear behind a turn. "Dangit!" she swears as she kicks the dumpster she fell in.

"Sora!" her navi appears, trying to calm her frustrated partner and to see if she's injured. Once the brunette cools a bit and seems okay, she notices something. "Sora, why do you have two bags?"

"Huh?" confused, she looks at herself and finds the second bag is with her. 'How?' as she remembers the stray shot and he pushed her down to evade it. "Wow... for an old timer, he still got skills." as she opens his bag and rummages thru his stuff. 'Please be with him, please be with him... darn it.' she thought. Her pleas have not been answered, as she found Colonel EXE's PET in the bag. If the elder had held on or pocket his PET, he would have a bit of advantage by hacking.

The military navi senses somethings wrong and appears in the screen. "Sora?" he asked, wondering what's going on.

"I'm sorry, but the mavericks got him." Sora answered and the black navi is shock by this. "But don't worry, we'll get him back. We need to follow that damn truck. " She then looks around and saw a strange-looking motorcycle, or hover-bike near a bar. Ignoring the fact that she can't drive, she hops on the vehicle and wonders how to turn it on.

'Now what...' Sora thought, she is clueless on how the bike works and if she can ride this without crashing to something with this futuristic vehicle. Then an idea hits her and mentally slaps herself. 'My partner!' she thought.

She took her PET and plugs Rouge in. "Rouge, can you start it up?" Sora asked.

"Are you sure you can drive this?" her partner asked skeptically, as she know that the brunette as a record of bad luck on driving.

"We need to catch up to that truck and save Barrel, quick." she firmly stated, then the vehicle hums to life and floats a little. "Thanks" as she puts it in full throttle...

Only it gone reverse and crashes on some boxes and trash cans.

'This is going to be a long ride…' Rouge thought with an awkward smile, as her partner groans and tries her best to steer the thing to the right direction.

**:::^*^:::**

Axl heard what happened to X and Zero on their mission about the Force Metal. He was shock and livid that Shadow, one of their own betrayed his friends and join the Rebellion. He then heard something about a factory, where the Copy Chips were once being produced there. Wanting to learn more about his body and about the person who saved him, he requested to investigate the factory from Signas. The leader of the Maverick Hunters, is a bit of having second thoughts on letting Axl go but wanting to know how the prototype New Gen was made... he allowed him.

So that night, Axl boarded the ship that is heading to a small town just outside Giga City.

And fate... will cross their path.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT: I just recently learnt that in the EXE verse, game edition, that Colonel.EXE, Iris.EXE and Zero.EXE are actually related. O.o... Seriously, these three were created by Dr. Wily (EXE edition), making them siblings! D8!


End file.
